By Jon Keen, STAR

Again, it's been a pretty busy time for everyone involved in STAR, with a couple of major projects in progress.

The first of these is the culmination of our book project, "Reading 'Til I Die", which records the memories and stories of Reading supporters past and present. Everyone at STAR thinks that it's tremendously important that we help record the memories and experiences of our supporters - especially the older ones who can remind us of a game that today's younger supporters would hardly recognise - turning up on the day and paying money at the turnstiles, standing on open terraces, local derbies on Christmas and Boxing Day and so on - but when these people who remember the early days of the club that we all love are gone, so are all these priceless memories.

So we're delighted that we had a really good response when we asked for contributions - in fact, almost enough contributions for us to have been able to put two books together! So Ian Maynard and Michele Law, who have been running this project for STAR, together with the publishing company we are employing, have been able to put together a really entertaining book - with stories from a very wide range of contributors, the youngest of whom is 7 and the oldest 93! Mark Bradley at the football club has also added a valuable contribution.

As I write this, "Reading 'Til I Die" is literally rolling off the printing presses, and STAR will be officially launching the book on the 1st December, before the Middlesbrough match. We're planning a reception before the match to which we'll be inviting everyone whose story has been included, and where we also expect to have several former players, and after that the book will go on sale. It'll be available from the Reading Megastore and the STAR unit outside the East Stand, and hopefully from retail outlets in Reading town centre, priced at £10. It's no coincidence that this book is being released at the start of December, as we think it'll be a great Christmas present for any Royals fan.

The other major event has been the players' donation to subsidise coach travel to the match at Manchester City. Everyone involved thinks this is a really nice gesture by the players, as it's very nice to get an acknowledgement from them that they do appreciate the contribution the fans make, and they do value our support at matches. I hope for fellow fans everywhere that this gesture will be noticed and copied by players at other clubs - especially bigger clubs, where many players seem to be both better paid and less aware of their club's supporters.

One of the reasons that I love Reading is that, despite being in the Premier League, we still have that vital link between players and supporters which means so much to so many. In my role as Deputy Chair of the Football Supporters' Federation, I meet the supporters of many other clubs, and the vast majority of them have lots of praise and respect for the way that things are done at Reading. There is a definite aim here to continue to operate as a community/family club, rather than as the type of "multi-national brand" that many other Premier League clubs have turned into, and in my view long may it continue. I've heard too many horror stories from fans of clubs where there is inappropriate ownership and little or no communication between club and supporters, and so I know just how important the connection the connection between club and community is. Fortunately, at Reading both STAR and the football club are always working hard to preserve this link.

An example of this came this week, when me and two other STAR Board members attended the club's Senior Management Meeting, which is the monthly meeting, chaired by Nigel Howe, of the team which runs all facets of the football club. We attend each meeting and always have an open discussion, where we are able to set our own agenda and freely express our views on behalf of supporters. In these discussions, we can talk about individual supporter issues or problems, or wider, long-term issues, and whilst there are many times when we don't agree, we do know that we're always listened to. I'm convinced that it's this sort of dialogue which every football club should have, and in many ways this level of supporter communication is another way in which Reading FC is setting best practices for the football industry.

This was certainly a message which Paula Martin and I received when we represented STAR at the Supporters Direct National Conference in Manchester in October. At this conference, representatives from over 100 supporters' trusts were able to network and compare experiences and best practices, and it was clear that at Reading STAR has significantly more communication and input into the way the football club is run than the trusts at many other clubs - some of which, in fact, are almost in open warfare with their supporters' trust.

An interesting part of this conference was the opening speech by James Purnell, MP. Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport. In this speech, James outlined the Government's will to ensure that supporters of football clubs are recognised as important stakeholders in their clubs, with the aim of ensuring that supporters at every club are represented on the board of their club. This is, of course, a long-term aim, but everyone in the supporters' trust movement is very much in favour of this idea - we just worry that like many other things promised by politicians it may not actually happen!

Moving back closer to home, I had an interesting experience at the Newcastle match. On behalf of STAR, Paula Martin and I made a "surprise" presentation to Joel Hufford at half-time, interrupting his half-time summary to present him with an engraved souvenir marking his 8+ years with BBC Radio Berkshire, as he's now moving on from being a full time broadcaster there. This meant treading a new route for me, going down the tunnel shortly after the players, and finding our way up to the press box at the back of the Upper West stand. It was only exciting and glamorous at the start though, as the majority of this journey was spent sharing a catering lift with a trolley full of dirty plates. But Joel was delighted with the presentation, so it was all worthwhile, and the experience of walking down the tunnel during half-time, and then past the dressing rooms (listening hard for any shouts or tea-cups breaking) is a really interesting one.

Apart from this, this month I've had the usual various press interviews, frequently spent correcting the suggestion that Reading are doing poorly this season or suffering from the clichéd "second season syndrome" - if such a thing actually exists! Comfortably mid-table as we get closer to the half-way stage of the season, I'm content but not overjoyed with the way the season is going, and I'm quietly confident that our Premier League place will be safe for another year. If only Glen Little's injury would clear up, I think everyone would be that much happier, though. In a very small way, I can feel for Glen, as I'm currently unable to play in my weekly "football for fatties" sessions with a torn hamstring. But apart from us both being injured, there is absolutely no other similarity between me and Glen, as anyone who plays with me will testify!